Aircraft



Mardl 1945- E. A. ST LKE 2,372,301

AIRcRAI 'T Filed Nov. 15, 1939 s sheds-sheet 1 v INVENTOR E. A. STALKER 2,372,301

AIRCRAFT March 27, 1945.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 13, 1939 1 lNVENTOR yaw/X11221 AIRCRAFT Filed Nov. 13, 1939 :s' Sheets-Sheet s lNV-ENTQR I I Patented Mar. 27, 1945 UNITED- s-T rrrs. s, PATENTV OFFICE r Edward A. men, issuer to j The Dow Chemical Company; Midland, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application November 13, 1939, Serial No. 304,189

10 Claims.

My invention relates to aircraft and particularly to a means ofproviding stability and control. The objects are flrst,.to provide an aerodynamic means of longitudinal control and stability rather than a means Operating through the agency of movable suriacessecond, to provide a mechanical means of control employing rotation of the surface, this in combination with the said aerodynamic means; third, to provide automatic longitudinal stability; fourth, to pro- 'vide an airplane of very short overall length; fifth, to provide a tail surface which is rigid and yet aerodynamically efficient. Still other objects will appear from the following description and 15 ing loss of lift, the tail plane has been tapered from the drawings.

I achieve the above objects by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

v Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the aircraft employing suction through a slot of the r a iments. All wing sections are tested with square tail plane Figure 2 is a fragmentary side view partly in section;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary from; view of the aircraft.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan of the tail of the aircraft;

Figure 4a is a vertical section along line 40-41; of Figure 4;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan of the wing of Figure 1 to illustrate the internal compartments;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section of the .wing along line 6-8 in Figure 5; V

' Figure 7 is a vertical chordwise section along line in Figure 5;

v Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevation partly in sectionof another form of the invention employing blowing through slots of the tnilplanes;

Figure 8a is .a fragmentary vertical section of i 'the turnbuckle mechanism for adjusting the attitude of vane II and valve 8:

Figure 9 is a fragmentary plan of an airplane employing tail" booms and adapted to blowing through the tail plane; 7

- Figure 10 is a vertical section along line ll- -ll Y V .tligofthetailplane. Forasmallangleofpitchof in Fltu e 9: p Figure 11 is a side elevation of an airplane emplaying the preferred I tail and having a short overall length. a 5 ,c Airplanes of todayv are subject to tail flutter. Thetail plane could be made more rigid if made relatively thicker but this has not been done because of-the high drag'of thick wings. I have found, however, that it is possible to use thick tail planes if they are treated in certain manners.

gs and with it the sharp edges.

tail could be made thicker. Present planes have 40 for the simple tail plane.

' ('01. 244-87) v I has for the wing itself a lower drag. than if the end plates were not present. Thefend plates, of course, form the fins and ruddersand so serve a useful'purpose to compensate for their own 5 drag. I also place slots in the tail' surfaces and' m the lift of the tail plane.

I am aware that end plates have been used on tail planes to increase the stability by shieldin the plane against loss of lift from the tip flow. Since this has been for the purpose of precludin. thickness toward the end plate with the thought of reducing the drag. The reason for present practice in this regard probably rests on erroneous interpretation of wing section experends and they indicate a higher drag than they should because of the large area of the thick wing cross-section and the sharpness of end corners. With end plates this area is eliminated Thus, the whole a thickness always less than 12 per cent, usually :about 9 per cent of the chord length.

The present invention, then, 'points out that A tall plane provides stability to an airplane because for a given angle of pitch there is an increment of lift created on the tail. There is, however, a definite maximum to the increment It is one of the features of this invention to'provide in eilect a greater tall force for a given angle of pitch of the aircraft. This is accompllshed'by an auxiliary vane which controls the'ilow through the slots mzandathe-melaeennndthewingsuez.

Thehorlzontal plane or stabilizer is I. It is hollow'and divided into two compartments, an upper onelandaloweronei,bothhavingomtrolled communication with a duct 6 from which I have found that a tbiclr' wing with end plates 55 the air is withdrawn by a blower l. A valve} directs a flow through the tail slots to create a The vane is piv-.

force to correct the deviation. oted and suitably mass balanced about the pivot I: and the connecting rod 13 inter-connects the vane II and valve 8. Suitable supports Ila pivotally support the vane on the fuselage. See Figure 1.

compartment 3 I. The inner portion of the induction slot communicates with the compartment 32 while the, outer or tip portion leads into compart- The valve is also connected to the control stick l4 by means of the push rod l5, bell crank l8, and connecting rod II.

The tail plane is also adjustable by means of the bell crank l8 and rod l8. The-bell crank has a segment of a toothed wheel in mesh with a worm which is rotatable by the chain 2| and sprocket 22 through the rotation of the crank 23 operably connected to cables which join to the chain. Thus, two sources of controlling the tail plane are provided and either device may be used for control as well as for trimming the machine.

As shown in Figure 4a a suitable seal 6b, preferably of rubber, prevents the leakage of fiuid between the duct 6 and the stabilizer entrance 3c.

The fins 24 are hollow and divided into an upper compartment 25 above the wall in the stabilizer and a compartment 28 below the wall, such compartments having communication respectively with compartments 4 and 5 of the stabilizer. Thus, when the airis sucked through a stabilizer slot, it is also sucked through the adjacent fin slot 2'I,or 28.

The presence of the slot in the fin is very significant because it will increase the lift of the horizontal tail by approximately 30 per cent, being somewhat dependent on the aspect ratio of the stabilizer. The effect arises from the greater mass of air that the stabilizer can deflect. This mass completely fills the space between the fins when air is passed through the fin slots. This means that the stability is increased by 30 per cent or the distance from the tail plane to the center of gravity of the airplane can be reduced by 30 per cent approximately.

The construction above described provides for differential control of the slot flows to correct for pitching movements of the aircraft. Thus when pitching movement occurs one surface of the stabilizer is toward the direction of movement of the stabilizer while the opposite surface is away therefrom. The action of the-auxiliary vane II is such as to adjust the valve 8 to differential'ly control the slot fiows to correct for the pitching movement and to establish a predetermined angular attitude of fiight. The slot fiow which takes place on the surface of the stabilizer which is away from the direction of movement is increased, and that onthe opposite surface is decreased to provide corresponding changes in the respective lifts 0f the two surfaces in a direction to establish and maintain stability.

In Figures 5 to 7, is shown the wing in greater detail. It hasan induction slot 29 and a discharge slot 38, each leading into a hollow compartment or compartments within the wing. All of the'discharge slot is in communication with the ment 33.

The walls of compartment 3| extend to the rear edge of the wing so that the top entrance of the :blower-inducts air through the inner portion of the slot 29 while the bottom entrance inducts air through the outer or tip portion. See particularly Figure 6.

The blower is divided at the center by a diaphragm or disk 34 so that there is no direct communication axially of the blower between compartments 3 2 and 33.

Besides drawing. air from the compartments 32 and 33, the blower draws air from the duct 8. In Figures 4 and 4a, the tail plane is shown in a larger scale to depict the internal arrangement,

particularly of the valve 8. It should be noted that a horizontal wall 3a divides the tail into the upper and lower compartments 4 and 5 and that at the ends of the valve there are vertical walls 8b which shield the ends of the valve 8 throughout its swing and prevent leakage from one compartment to the other about the ends of the valve. These walls are fixed to the stabilizer.

Figure 8 illustrates a form of the invention in which the tail slots have overlapping sides formed for the discharge of fluid rearward along the surface. The functioning of the machine is the same as that of Figure 1 except that the duct Ea delivers air from the blower 1a to the tail plane and the slots 35 to 38.

In Figure 8 the tail plane is rigidly attached to the fuselage and the balancing or trimming of the airplane is attained through a mechanism to alter the attitude Of the auxiliary vane ll relative to the airplane.

to them the helical gear 13:: in mesh with the helical gear I37 fixed to the shaft [3 This shaft-is turned by the crank 23a. and suitable intervening gears, shafts and universal joints. In particular, shaft [39' has a splined end fitting into the internally splined end of shaft I3h so that Biz and l3g form an extensible shaft to accommodate the force and aft. movement of the case l3i due to rotation of valve 8 and vane H. The case l3i shown in section in Figure 8a, supports the gear shaft [3 The universal joint l3k joining shafts [3g and I 3f is indicated by a circle in Figure 8 because of the small scale of the drawings.

In both Figures 1 and 5, the blowers are driven by a turbine located in a duct through the wing whose entrance on the lower surface is 39 and whose exists are 48 as shown in Figures 1 and 5. The duct-is 4| shown in Figure '7. The action of this duct and turbine are discussed in my Patent No. 2,223,744, and so no detailed description is given here. The turbines in the ducts drive the blower l by means of gears and shafts 43 as shown in Figure 1. The bevel gear on the blower shaft is 46 and the pinion on shaft 43 is 45. The shafts 43 incorporate suitable overrunning clutches 44 so that the turbines can drive the blower but one turbine can not drive the. other through the blower gear. This is important in case the functioning of one turbine is impaired.

Figure 9] illustrates the application of the in- 2,879,801 vention to an airplane l1 employing hollow booms 48 to support the tail.

, Thestabilizer is rigidly attached to the booms and trimming of the airplane is accomplished by means of the trim tab 49 in the present-day conventional manner. Air is regularly supplied to the tail plane and discharged from the slots II slots. The slots are opened wider by the movement of therudder in one direction and closed with the opposite'movement.

The greatest augmentation of the air force is obtained with a nozzle-like form for the through Y slots and with the structure shown this is preserved for rudder movement in one direction only. Yet this is a large gain in total force since the other plane retains at least the force of an un'slotted plane.

a Figure 11 shows an airplane having menu 7 plane arrangement of Figure 1 or 8 described and in which advantage of the invention has been taken to reduce the overall len th. particularly the length between the quarter point on the mean aerodynamic chord of the wing and the mean aerodynamic chord of the tail plane.

a The mean aerodynamic chord is defined according to such standard methods as given in- Aviation Handbook by Warner and Johnson.

Of the structures disclosed I prefer the tail plane employing discharge slots with fluid from a blower.

It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the use of end plates on the horizontal tail plane only but intend that they may be used on vertical tail planes as well.

The t pe to be preferred depends on the kind of airplane. For a single motored airplane for general use I prefer the tail plane with the suction slots while with the multi-engined machine I refer the dischargeslots if tall booms are used.

The term stabilizing plane is'used to mean a plane used for either stabilizing or controlling an aircraft or both.

While I have illustrated certain specific forms of the invention it is'to be understood that departures can be made from them and that I intend to claim my invention broadly as set forth in the claims.

I claim: I

1. In an aircraft, ,a hollow stabilizing plane having a slot in each of its upper and lower surmeans to operate it and direct the flow to'the slots differentially in with the wind direction and to transmit a force to said pilot steering means.

2. In combination in an aircraft. a supporting wins. a horizontal stabilising plane having a I 3 hollow vertical plane at its extremity, said vertical plane having a slot in its wall above and a slot in its wall below said horizontal plane, blower means in communication with the interior of said vertical plane to induce a how through its said slots, and valve means to control the blower flow diiferentially between the said slots in the said vertical plane above and below' said horizontal plane to vary the lift on said horizontal plane.

3. In an aircraft, a hollow stabilizing plane having a slot in each of its opposite surfaces; means for developing a flow through said slots, valve means for diflerentially controlling the flow through said slots. means responsive to the angular-attitude of the relative wind, means actuated by said responsive means for adjusting said valve'means to control said slot flows to correct for pitching movements of said aircraft, and manual means for altering the control of said valve means to provide for establishing a prede- ,said slots, valve means for differentially controlling the flow through said slots, means responsive to the angular attitude of the relative wind,

means actuated by said responsive means for adjusting said valve means to difierentially control. said slot flows to correct for pitching movements of said aircraft, and means for altering the control of said valve means to provide for increasing the slot flow on the one of said surfaces away from the direction of movement of said stabilizing plane.

5. Inan aircraft, a hollow stabilizing plane having a slot in each of its upper and lower surfaces, blower means within the aircraft for developing an inward flow through said slots, valve means .for diiferentially controlling the flow through said slots, means responsive to the angular attitude of the relative wind, means actuated by said responsive means for adjusting said valve means to differentially control said slot flows to correct for pitching movements of said aircraft, and means for altering the control of said valve means to provide for increasing the slot flow on the one of said surfaces away from the direction of movement of said stabilizing Plane and to decrease the slot flow on the other of said surfaces toward said relative wind.

6. combination in an aircraft, a hollow sta-- I m plane having a slot in each of its upper r surfaces in communication with the plane," terior, blower means in the aircraft in communication with said slots to supply a flow therethroush. valve means for controlling the respective flows through said slots, meansto adjust the position of said stabilizing plane relative to the aircraft, and means operable connecting said .valve means so that in response-to adjusting movement of said stabilizing plane said. valve means directs a flow to the slot on the side of said plane opposite that in the direction of said adlusting movement. 7

7. In combination in an aircraft. a hollow stabilizing plane having a slot in each of its .upper and'lower surfaces incommunication with the interior of the aircraft, blower means in the aircraft in communication with said slots to supply a how therethrough, valve means for controlling the respective flows through said slots, means to adjust said valve means tovary the flows through said slots differentially, additional'means to ad- I just the position of said stabilizing plane relative to the aircraft, and means operably connecting said valve means so that in response to adlusting movement of said stabilizing plane said valve means effects a difi'erential variation in the flows through said slots.

8. In combination in an aircraft, a hollow stabilizing plane having a slot in each or its upper and lower surfaces in communication with the interior of the aircraft, blower means in the aircraft in communication with said slots to supply a flow therethrough, valve means for controlling the respective flows through said slots, means to adjust said valve means to vary the flows through said slots differentially, additionalmeans to adjust the position of said stabilizing plane relative to the aircraft, and means operably connecting said valve means so that in response to adjusting movement of said stabilizing plane said valve means efiects a diiferential variation in the flows through said slots, and means responsive to the angular attitude of the relative wind for also effecting adjustment of said valve means.

9. In an aircraft, a hollow stabilizing plane having a slot in each of its opposite surfaces. means within the aircraftfor developing a flow through said slots, valve means for controlling the flow through said slots, said valve means being positioned within and closely adjacent said stabilizing plane to be efiective promptly for the control of said flows, manual means remotely located with respect to said valve means, and means formterconnecting said manual means and said valve means to providefor the adjustment of the latter.

10. In an aircraft, a hollow stabilizing plane having a slot in the surface thereof, impositive displacement blower means within the aircraft for developing a low pressure flow through said slot, valve means forcontrolling the flow through said slot, said valve means being' positioned within and closely adjacent said stabilizing plane to be effective promptly for the control of said flow, manual means remotely located with respect to said valve means, and means for interconnecting said manual means and said valve means to provide for the adjustment of the latter.

EDWARD A. STALKER. 

